Shelly Raucci, right, wife of Steven Raucci gets a hug from a supporter outside the Schenectady County Court room after the jury returned their verdict Thursday April 1, 2010, in Schenectady, N.Y. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union archive) less

Shelly Raucci, right, wife of Steven Raucci gets a hug from a supporter outside the Schenectady County Court room after the jury returned their verdict Thursday April 1, 2010, in Schenectady, N.Y. (John Carl ... more

Photo: John Carl D'Annibale

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Court shields convicted arsonist's state pension from victims

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Albany

The wife of notorious convicted arsonist and retired Schenectady school official Steven Raucci is "happy and relieved" that she will be allowed to keep her incarcerated husband's $5,800 monthly public employee pension, Shelley Raucci's attorney said Thursday after the release of an appellate court ruling.

"I just spoke with Shelley and she and her family are very grateful that she'll be keeping Steve's pension," said Alan Pierce, a Syracuse attorney who represented her in the pension case.

While the court decision re-confirmed that the state Retirement and Social Security Law exempts pensions from garnishment by victims, neither the ruling by the appellate court nor a Court of Appeals decision provided clarity on the larger issue of whether victims can sue for the pension of a convicted state employee in the future. The courts said the state Legislature is the proper forum to take up that issue, through legislation.

The ruling Thursday by the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court returned to its previous position of denying the motion for a preliminary injunction brought by the state Office of Victim Services on behalf of Raucci's crime victims, which sought to divert the pension from Raucci's wife and instead to use the money to compensate victims.

She will continue to receive her husband's pension checks from the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System.

The most recent appellate ruling came in response to a February decision by the Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, which reversed the appellate court's prior ruling that said the victims could sue for his pension. The highest court said the argument made on behalf of victims — that a 2001 amendment to the state's so-called "Son of Sam" law trumped the state Retirement and Social Security Law — was not preserved and that victims could not sue to garnish Raucci's pension.

The multiple rulings and back-and-forth between the appellate division and the Court of Appeals seemed to close the door on the bid by victims to take away Raucci's pension.

Raucci, 64, was convicted in 2010 of 18 felonies for planting bombs on the property of perceived enemies. The former city schools facilities supervisor is serving 23 years to life at maximum-security Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora for first-degree arson and other crimes. He will be eligible for parole in 2031.

Among the local victims involved in the effort to sue Raucci for the pension money were Stephen and Colleen Capitummino, whose Rotterdam home was mistakenly firebombed by Raucci on Aug. 26, 2001, and Laura Balogh, whose home in Schodack was damaged by a Raucci explosive device on Jan. 12, 2007.

The suit to garnish Raucci's pension hinged on the state's "Son of Sam" law, which prevents criminals from profiting from the publicity of their crimes. The law is named after the 1970s New York City serial killer David Berkowitz. The law requires crime victims to be informed when a person convicted of a crime receives $10,000 or more from any source. A 2001 amendment to the law allowed victims to sue for "all funds and property received from any source."

"The case is over and done with from my perspective," Pierce said. "I'm happy and delighted that the injunction to take the pension was denied."

Pierce said it is up to the state to determine if it wishes to file another appeal.

The state attorney general's lawyer on the case, Owen Demuth, did not return a call for comment.

A spokeswoman for the state Office of Victim Services said that agency declined to comment.